Striking Doctors Go Back To Work After FG’s Threat Of No-Work-No-Pay

Striking doctors undre the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, have resumed work after a seven-day warning strike.

NARD has directed its members to return to work on Monday one week after its mebers embarked on the strike to demand the release of their colleague, Dr Ganiyat Popoola.

The development is coming on the heels of the federal government’s decision to apply a no-work-no pay policy on striking doctors.

The Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration had last week threatened not to pay the NARD members for the period they embarked on the strike, contending that the doctors abandoned the negotiation opportunity provided by the government before taking the action.

The doctors’ action has paralysed activities in public owned hospitals across the country as Nigerians seeking medical attention were forced to seek help from private hospitals at very high cost to them.

The magazine reported that Dr Popoola was abducted in December 2023 alongside her husband and cousin by kidnappers in Kaduna state who are demanding N60 million for her release.

The husband was later released after paying the abductors an undisclosed sum, but Dr Popoopla has remained in the net of her abductors since then  proming her colleague to demand from government her release after more than eight months in capativity.

The doctors had earlier embarked on a nationwide protest to press home their demand from the federal government.

Speaking on Sunday, the NARD President, Dr Dele Abdullahi, said the strike was being called off because progreess has been made on the negotiation with the government in the last few days.

Dr Abdullahi said, “We are suspending the strike now. We will be meeting to review the progress the government has made in the next three weeks.

“We are resuming on Monday, September 2, 2024, at 8 am. The engagement of the government has been a little bit better. But, we are hopeful that they will sustain this current line of action.”

Before embarking on the seven-day warning strike last Monday, NARD had threatened to embark on an indefiniet strike if serious progress was not made on the part of the federal government for the release of Dr popoola.